Posts Tagged ‘GM Shreveport’

Elio plans to sell the tadpole-shaped 3-wheeler for just $6,800. It promises up to 84 mpg.

A small start-up that hopes to begin producing a new high-mileage automobile in mid-2014 has taken over an abandoned General Motors plant near Shreveport, Louisiana.

Elio Motors plans to use about a third of the 1.8 million square foot facility, one of 89 properties GM shuttered in the wake of its 2009 bankruptcy. The company hopes to begin hiring the first of 1,500 new workers about a year from now, though it is unclear whether it will seek out the employees who previously staffed the GM facility.

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“We go into production 18 months from now, and so we will begin hiring around 12 months from now,” said Elio CEO Paul Elio.

The plans call for the production of a significantly different vehicle than what GM had previously built in Shreveport, which included a small Hummer SUV and, just before the factory’s closure, the midsize Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups. Elio is developing a tadpole-shaped 3-wheeler that promises to deliver high mileage for a low price tag.

Ford will not take orders for three shades of red, and for Tuxedo Black, on a number of models, including Fiesta.

Automakers are facing increasingly problems due to the natural disaster that struck Japan two weeks ago, resulting in damage to a yet-unknown number of Japanese automotive parts plants. But while some makers are already curbing production due to shortages of electronic engine controllers, plastic parts and rubber products, Ford Motor Co. is telling its dealers it won’t be able to take orders for some of its most popular car colors.

Blame a shortage of pigments specifically produced in the Northeast of Japan – where the quake and subsequent tsunami did the most damage. The maker says it is running out of the necessary ingredients for Tuxedo Black and three different shades of red.

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That will force customers to either wait or shift to alternate colors for a variety of models including the Ford Explorer, Taurus, F-150, Fiesta and Expedition, as well as the Lincoln Navigator and MKZ, according to the automaker.

The maker says it has enough of the pigments on hand for current orders but doesn’t want to keep new buyers waiting should its Japanese supplier not be able to get back up and running anytime soon. In the meantime, said a spokesman, “We’re working to find alternative suppliers.”

GM's Shreveport assembly plant will contract build the H3 and H3T models until 2011 or 2012.

General Motors (GM) and Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., Ltd (Tengzhong) have just announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement that will allow Tengzhong to acquire GM’s premium all-terrain Hummer brand.

Under the terms of the definitive agreement, the buyer will acquire the ownership of the Hummer brand, trademark and tradenames, as well as specific intellectual property license rights necessary for the manufacture of Hummer vehicles. The buyer will also assume the existing dealer agreements relating to Hummer’s dealership network.

Tengzhong will purchase Hummer through an investment entity, in which it will hold an 80% share. Mr. Suolang Duoji, a private entrepreneur with holdings that include the Hong Kong-listed nardite producer Lumena, will have the remaining 20%.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“This transaction marks an exciting step for both Tengzhong and Hummer, as we invest in a business that has significant opportunity in the U.S. and around the globe,” said Yang Yi, chief executive officer of Tengzhong. “We are excited about some of the initiatives already underway at Hummer that we believe our investment will be able to accelerate, particularly related to the creation of the next generation of more fuel-efficient vehicles to meet not only future regulations but also customer expectations.”